Kaijus versus Jaegars...Guillermo Del Toro's big budget dream

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2013)

A friend of mine described this feature as being so corny that it is enjoyable. He is not the only one who thinks this. Director and writer Guillermo Del Toro was not trying to accomplish anything inventive or groundbreaking with this movie--like with "Blade 2" and the "Hellboys" he was going for pure entertainment. In this arena, "Pacific Rim" excels. It is jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring to watch on the big screen with deafening surround sound and beautiful visual effects that should steal the golden statue.
The plot is simple and basic. Monsters have come to invade from another world and humanity has to defeat them before the planet is obliterated. The monsters are known as Kaiju (Japanese word for monster) and the machines that the humans have built to fight them are called Jaegars (in German means hunter). Combined with a ten minute intro by the main character, which brilliantly sets up the story without being too technical and daunting, followed by a remaining plot that progresses without boredom makes what could have been a dull cliché intriguing.
The characters at first glance seem to be the generic types in this type of a movie. A hero who lost his brother to the monsters (Hunnam). A quiet, modest Japanese girl who wants revenge (Kikuchi). An aging badass leader who is the glue that keeps the company going (Idris Elba). A couple of quirky scientists (Day and Gorman). And even a dog and a slimy black market dealer (Perlman). But as the movie charges forward, such common characters are forgivable for all the actors make their performances their own without being overly emotional or wooden. They manage to make the audience laugh and we have the tendency to cheer them on as they kick the Kaijus' asses.
All in all, "Pacific Rim" marks as a great fun movie, even if it is about man machines beating giant reptiles to a pulp with their bare hands. Visually stunning. Meant for the big screen. Go see it before it goes into the DVD and Blu-Ray shelves at Walmart.